B.C. Premier John Horgan (left) and Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced the province is moving to stage three this week. (Photo: BC government Flickr)
B.C. Premier John Horgan announced the end of B.C.’s longest-ever state of emergency this week. With declining case counts, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19, the province moved into step three of its reopening plan, which opens everything from inter-provincial travel to casinos and nightclubs. Even masks in indoor public places will now be optional – although they remain highly recommended to ward off the Delta variant.
“Masks do protect others, but our risk goes down dramatically after two doses of vaccines,” said B.C.’s top doctor Bonnie Henry. “We have done a great job of decreasing transmission of the virus in this province. The last layer of protection – a mask – is the last layer of protection.”
The final reopening step is slated for the day after Labour Day, when social contacts can completely return to normal and large events like concerts will be allowed.
For now, indoor gatherings can have up to 50 people or 50 per cent capacity, whichever is larger and outdoor gatherings can have up to 5,000 people. Travellers from Canada will be allowed.
“We will be welcoming people from other provinces – hopefully vaccinated people,” said Dr. Henry, who acknowledged that COVID-19 is still with us and will continue to cause outbreaks, particularly among unvaccinated people. Public health will continue managing those outbreaks, including contact tracing and screening for variants.
Some people may not feel comfortable with returning completely to normal just yet, Dr. Henry said.
“It may be fist bumps or elbow bumps for a while yet for some people.”
Dr. Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix are no longer going to hold regular COVID-19 briefings for B.C. I will miss those briefings, having watched and tweeted every single one since the pandemic began, but I am also very happy to see life return mostly to normal. Read to the end to see how that will affect Pandemic Diary.
Here’s the rest of the news for this week:
- Women in Canada have suffered more severe economic consequences than men due to COVID-19, a new report found. Employment for women is now at its lowest level in two decades and progress towards wage equity has stalled, says the report, which included research by a Simon Fraser University researcher.
- Sydney, Australia is in lockdown for the first time as the COVID-19 Delta variant is growing there, the New York Times reports.
- European travel rules may cut out people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine Covishield, the Globe and Mail reports.
- The World Health Organization urges people who are vaccinated to continue wearing masks, to prevent Delta variant outbreaks, the New York Times reports.
- A new study found the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines may offer long-term protection from COVID-19, the New York Times reports.
- The number of deaths from COVID-19 in Canada may be seriously undercounted, the Globe and Mail reports. When asked about this in B.C., Dr. Henry said, “I think we have to take that review with a grain of salt.” She said B.C. is already monitoring sudden, unexpected deaths, but says in B.C. she thinks many of those are deaths caused by people who avoided getting medical attention for existing issues due to the pandemic.
- Yukon is battling a COVID-19 outbreak that is the Northern province’s worst since the pandemic began. It’s fuelled by the Gamma variant, first identified in Brazil, Reuters reports.
As the pandemic winds down, I’m not going to write a Pandemic Diary entry every week. However, when something newsworthy on the COVID-19 front happens, I will cover it. Meanwhile, I’ve got something else brewing – will keep you posted.
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